Exalt
by Krixteenee
Summary: We know that James was tracking Alice as she lurked the halls of the Asylum in Biloxi, but what if Alice had never smelt appealing to James? This is what happens when Alice becomes a newborn under James' command...
1. Preamble

**Preamble**

In existence, you meet many different forms of magnification. For me, the biggest thing that stood out about my time being here was the compassionate Dr. Carlisle Cullen. His life was the most true form of exalt I had ever come across. He went from becoming a monster, a being totally dependent on its own bloodlust, to finding his place in the world as a calm and composed doctor. With golden eyes that screamed to the high heavens of his effort and integrity, I couldn't help but admire and respect him. His life and family were so tied together that the lines that separated them were blurred beyond recognition, until the two merged to one unit. His family was his life, life his family.

This revelation made the turncoat coven that I had been 'raised' with appear as true fiends, and I had longed to be a part of the Cullen life. But how could I have possibly stayed when my decision brought such destruction down on them? How could I have been self-absorbed enough to stay with the Cullens when my selfishness brought certain death upon us all? I tried to look into the future to see what we might possibly lose or gain, becoming nearly irate as I remembered that I could not do so when the Quileutes were now so involved with our fight.

I turned to look at my new family's faces- Edward, staying close to Bella, whose eyes had barely begun to change from crimson to their new amber shade. Rosalie and Emmett were at the point of our defensive stances, looking fierce and glorious as they contemplated our outcome. I nearly couldn't bear to look at the last pair- Carlisle, looking rather hurt as he was no doubt looking ahead to the lives he would have to take for the wellbeing of his family, his pinky twining together with Esme's. And gazing at them, I couldn't help but feel so terribly alone.

Suddenly my mind was swinging back to the last image I had seen of the army, as its numbers approached twenty; James and Victoria headed the operation, along with the enthralling blonde Major that had given them the idea of the army. I felt weighted as I recalled the gripping pull of his eyes as I had seen them in my visions, and wondered if I could possibly allow attacking him if we faced in combat. I could hear Edward's teeth clamp shut as he took note of my thoughts, no doubt questioning if I was going to turn on the family. I turned to face him again, feeling my face crumple as I saw his critical expression. I lost my will to stand straight among these people, so much better than I. I would in no way forgive myself for this. I vowed to exist no longer than the duration of the fight.

And this was one pledge I could guarantee.


	2. Wonder

**Alright- this will be a story about what might have happened if Alice was never especially appealing to James, and he just decided to change her instead of track her. I will have a couple of chapters from the beginning of her transformation, but this main story will start on that memorable night of the Cullen****'****s baseball game that changed the course of Twilight**

**Chapter One; Wonder**

* * *

Being born-again was something that I had never really dreamt about. To me, It was an unknown concept.

Or, at least I thought it was.

It was hardly fair for me to make these assumptions when I could only remember the very recent happenings of my new life. I got some facts from James- he was being helpful, if unwilling about the whole ordeal of my somewhat troublesome start to this life.

So all newborns weren't this oblivious to their past… Perhaps oblivious wasn't the right word. I wracked my brain to come up with a better, less self-accusatory word, but nothing came to me. I wondered again if this was a trait of recent, or if I was always this dull as well.

All this I wondered while taking in my new senses.

One of the marvelous things I realized was that my brain could think of what seemed like hundreds of things at once- James assured me that this was solely a vampiric trait, and that I was almost lucky that I couldn't remember my past- human memories were so downright irritating, due to the inferior sense of sight, sound, and smell. He had even added taste to the list, and for good reason, as I could taste for myself the rich scent of earth as I inhaled.

My first few days as a vampire went by in a blur, as James explained the ropes and watched over me as I hunted, probably feeling superior in his vampiric seniority as he carefully explained to me the things I pressed the most, was the most eager to know. I could tell that he was holding back. I could only hope that what he kept to himself wasn't too crucial to my new existence.

I was often disconcerted about my bloodlust. It was probably the biggest thing on my mind, and even when it wasn't, it was still lurking as a horrible undertone to my thoughts. I resorted to being bubbly and overexcited in my actions to make up for the darker tone of my thoughts, but my mind always got the best of me when it was time to hunt, or when James led us too closely to a town and I wrecked havoc on the unsuspecting townspeople.

We were lounging by a river on a somewhat cloudy day when it first happened. In the morning I had felt a bit tired, almost even sick, when I suddenly started trembling, wondering to myself if vampires could get seizures while I watched my limbs strain against the action. It took my entire focus to shake the fit off, luckily to only a raised eyebrow from James.

I wasn't in such control the next time. James was just starting to stir from one of his long sessions of silent thinking when I felt a strange sort of tingling to the front of my face, around my eyes. I watched in horror as my vision blurred and the rich colors of the forest around us faded to dull, bleak grays. I whimpered, wondering if I was turning back into a human. Was this something James had held back from me?

Then my vision disappeared altogether.

In it's place, colors rippled as brightly as stars beneath the black of my vision, daring to come through. Straining for any sort of sight as possible, I reached my mind to the colors, then suddenly a picture popped into my mind, bright and vivid, though nothing compared to the sight I owned usually. I was merely bewildered for a while, before I took a closer look at the picture in my mind.

On the left, I easily recognized James, looking slyly at a pixie-like girl with short, black spikes of hair. It took me a moment to realize it was me. What _was_ this? This wasn't any memory of mine. I watched in equal parts of horror and fascination as James kept shooting looks at me, his crimson eyes seeming to smolder with intention and lust and a small undercurrent of respect as he looked at… me, and then that picture was sliding away, replaced with another- James starting to wrap his arm around my waist, while I looked incredibly uncomfortable. He started to whisper something sultry into my ear…

My regular vision snapped back and I woke to find one relation very evident between the male and myself- his arms were wrapped around me, though they were shaking me, not pulling me tighter to him. I looked at his red eyes, and saw nothing but confusion and a bit of irritation in them. Yet I still shivered and ducked around his arms, jumping back in a nearly instantaneous movement, standing against a tree.

"Alice, what in the _world_ was that?" James asked, taking some steps forward, stopping when my nose wrinkled at the thought of my vision. I merely shook my head in response, as I wasn't even sure what had just happened myself. Was James planning on trying to pull a move on me? I shivered again. I had felt absolutely nothing of any nature towards James, just the need to know what I could about this life, and all that he could supply of my last.

"I'm not sure," I hedged, feeling my hands curl into fists at my sides. There was no way I was going to explain to him, not with that picture. I would just play it off as nothing for now. And if it happened again?

I froze. I had no clue what I would do if it happened again. But my instincts told me that it would happen sooner or later.

And with my luck, that probably meant sooner rather than later.

* * *

**And there****'****s the first chapter. It's a bit shorter than I'm going to be aiming for during the rest of the story, but that was the best stopping place I could think of. Though I****'****m not sure when exactly Victoria joined James, I****'****m just going to play it out after a couple years of just Alice and James. And I suppose Laurent will be a bit after that. If anyone knows if it happened otherwise, please tell me. And also- please review!**


End file.
